A retired police general detained after bulletproof vests found in his car near Dhammakya Temple
A 73-year-old retired police general was detained on Sunday night after police searched his car and found bulletproof vests and knives.
The bulletproof vests are considered war items.
Pol Maj General Rungroj Pekanan was detained during a search at a checkpoint near controversial Dhammakaya Temple in Pathum Thani province.
Checkpoints were set up around the temple as authorities tried to enforce the Article 44 that put the temple under controlled zone in their attempts to locate the former abbot of the temple; Phra Dhammachayo.
An army officer monitoring at the checkpoint; Colonel Kowit Sangkhonka said that Rungroj drove a Lexus and tried to pass the checkpoint. He looked suspicious so the soldiers asked for search.
Rungroj said he was driving from a a market nearby and was on his way home in Ramkamhaeng area.
His vehicle has a sticker of Dhammakaya temple on the front window. Also found in his car was a banner that said, Anawat Thanacharoennat, Buddhist hero, who sacrificed his life for a demand for the Article 44 to be revoked.
Anawat hanged himself on Saturday from a high rise radio antenna in an apparent protest against the ongoing siege of the temple.
Rungroj was escorted for further questioning at Klongluang police station.